Hugo Short List

The full list

Novel
Michael F. Flynn, Eifelheim (Tor)
Naomi Novik, His Majesty’s Dragon (Del Rey; also, Voyager, 1/06, as Temeraire)
Charles Stross, Glasshouse (Ace)
Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End (Tor)
Peter Watts, Blindsight (Tor)

Novella
“The Walls of the Universe” by Paul Melko (Asimov’s, April/May 2006)
“A Billion Eyes” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s, October/November 2006)
“Inclination” by William Shunn (Asimov’s, April/May 2006)
“Lord Weary’s Empire” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, December 2006)
Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson (PS Publishing)

Novelette“Yellow Card Man” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Asimov’s, December 2006)
“Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth” by Michael F. Flynn (Asimov’s, December 2006)
“The Djinn’s Wife” by Ian McDonald (Asimov’s, July 2006)
“All the Things You Are” by Mike Resnick (Jim Baen’s Universe, October 2006)
“Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter” by Geoff Ryman (F&SF, October/November 2006)

Short Story
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” by Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things, William Morrow)
“Kin” by Bruce McAllister (Asimov’s, February 2006)
“Impossible Dreams” by Timothy Pratt (Asimov’s, July 2006)
“Eight Episodes” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s, June 2006)
“The House Beyond Your Sky” by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Strange Horizons, September 2006)

Related Book
Samuel R. Delany, About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews (Wesleyan University Press)
Joseph T. Major, Heinlein’s Children: The Juveniles (Advent: Publishing)
Julie Phillips, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon (St. Martin’s Press)
John Picacio, Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio (MonkeyBrain Books)
Mike Resnick & Joe Siclari, eds., Worldcon Guest of Honor Speeches (ISFiC Press)

Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Children of Men. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. (Universal Pictures)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Directed by Gore Verbinski. (Disney)
The Prestige. Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. (Warner Brothers / Touchstone Pictures)
A Scanner Darkly. Screenplay by Richard Linklater. Directed by Richard Linklater. (Warner Independent Pictures)
V for Vendetta. Screenplay by David Lloyd. Directed by James McTeigue. (Warner Brothers)

Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Battlestar Galactica, “Downloaded.” Writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. Directed by Jeff Woolnough. (NBC Universal/British Sky)
Doctor Who, “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday.” Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Graeme Harper. (BBC Wales/BBC1)
Doctor Who, “Girl in the Fireplace.” Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Euros Lyn. (BBC Wales/BBC1)
Doctor Who, “School Reunion.” Written by Toby Whithouse. Directed by James Hawes. (BBC Wales/BBC1)
Stargate SG-1, “200.” Written by Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Carl Binder, Martin Gero, and Alan McCullough. Directed by Martin Wood. (Double Secret Productions/NBC Universal)

Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders (Pyr)
James Patrick Baen (Baen Books)
Ginjer Buchanan (Ace Books/Roc)
David G. Hartwell (Tor Books)
Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor Books)

Editor, Short Form
Gardner Dozois (The Year’s Best Science Fiction)
David G. Hartwell (Year’s Best SF / The New York Review of Science Fiction)
Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
Gordon Van Gelder (Fantasy and Science Fiction)
Sheila Williams (Asimov’s)


Professional Artist
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
Stephan Martiniere
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio

Semiprozine
Ansible, ed. Dave Langford
Interzone, ed. Andy Cox
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, ed. Gavin J. Grant & Kelly Link
Locus, ed. Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction, ed. Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney

Fanzine
Banana Wings ed. Claire Brialey & Mark Plummer
Challenger ed. Guy Lillian III
The Drink Tank ed. Christopher J. Garcia
Plokta ed. Alison Scott, Steve Davies, & Mike Scott
Science-Fiction Five-Yearly ed. Lee Hoffman, Geri Sullivan, & Randy Byers

Fan Writer
Chris Garcia
John Hertz
Dave Langford
John Scalzi
Steven H. Silver

Fan Artist
Brad W. Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Scott Lynch
Sarah Monette
Naomi Novik
Brandon Sanderson
Lawrence M. Schoen

Comments :

So No Lies of Locke Lamora. Outrageous! No R.Scott Bakker. Scandelous!
But other than that the Best Novel category has some quality names. Watts, is now my horse, and I pegged him for the win as soon as I read Blindsight. Vinge is always a Hugo Favorite. I'm a Charlie Stross Fan and Glasshouse makes it four years in a row for him as a best novel nominee. Its also nice to see the newcomer Novik here.

Of the shorter categories the Gaiman work is the only one I've read, so its hard for me to comment, buy judging by some of the nominee's other works I like Wilson, and McDonald.

Next to Lies not being up, the category that chaps my hide is Dranatic Short. I shouldn't be suprised, but the extremely mediocre Dr. Who gets three nominations while BSG gets only one. Even more shocking is the lone nomination wasnt for the wonderful Exodus' part 2 or even Lay Down your Burdens, but for Downloaded, a rather forgetable episdode.

I'm much more satisfied seeing Patrik Neilson Hayden and Lou Anders nominated for best editor, and for Picacio's Coverstory being up for related work. Picacio, Martineire, andGiancola are a hell of a group in the best artist category.

The group of writes up for the Campbell Award are very strong as well, My feelings were a bit molified in seeing Lynch nominted here at least. He's got strong competition from Sanderson, Monnette, and of course Novik here. I'd argue for the inclusion of one or two other's but that would be nitpicking.

The most intriguing name on the list is that of John Scalzi, last years winner of the Campbell Award, as well as a nominee for best novel. Scalzi, isn't up for any of his books however. He's up for Best Fan Writer! I'm pleased to see it as Whatever is a great site.

I'm still debating if I'm going to get a supporting membership to Nippon. I likely will if only so I have a right to bitch when Watts, Lynch, and BSG get hosed.

The Book Depository

From time to time there are books I hear about that are released in the UK, but not in the US. The expense to order them from amazon.co.uk is is pretty high due to the cost of shipping them across the Atlantic. I recently was introduced to The Book Depository. They offer free shipping to the US and many other places around the world.

Last week I ordered. The Blade Itself by Joe Abecrombie, Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley, and Dreamsongs by George R.R. Martin.

They showed up yesterday! One week after I ordered them. That is darn good service for an order within the US, much less all the way from England!

So if you are looking for a UK book give The Book Depository a shot.

Hugo Nominations

I filled out my ballot last Friday.

If you were a member of LA con IV or are a member of Nippon 2007 don't forget to get your nominations in by March 3rd.

Its probably to late to mail in your ballot but you can nominate online here.

My personal pimp is to recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch for Best Novel and Scott for the Campbell Award.

I also found out that your favorite bloggers are eligible for best Fan Writer, so despite its recent hiatus, think about nominating William Lexner for I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending .

My final recommendation is for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form. Battlestar Galactica Exodus Pt.2 is easily the best television I saw last year. One of the best ever imo. So despite the dramatic fall off in the quality of the show since that episode airing give it the love it deserves.

If you need some help in other categories suggestions can be found several places.

Live Journal Community

SF Revu

NESFA

Locus

Money, Money, Money, Money

Income is subject that's not often talked about by writers.
John Scalzi does so rather in depth on his blog.
Its a pretty interesting breakdown.

Read the post here.

So a pretty successful author brings in a comfortable income. Of course that's with effectively 3 novels bringing in income for the year. But its taken him a number of years to reach this level.

Paperback v. Hardcover

Ahh the eternal debate. Actually its more properly Trade Paperback v. Hardcover v. Massmarket Paperback. There is a debate going on at the ASOIAF forum about what people prefer. Personally I prefer Hardcovers, but sometimes they arent available, and sometimes cost is a factor, but I generally try to buy in HC if its not just a book, I'm taking a flyer on.

This post by Brandon Sanderson, author of Elantris, and Mistborn, gives the author's perspective on the debate.

The gist is that authors make a lot more on hardcovers sold than on paperbacks.

The Year in Review

Well its been quite a year. I started a blogger account to be able to comment on other blogs. Then I figured as long as I had it I might as well make some use of it and thought. I'd start writing up a brief review of the books I read. Even though its still a relatively small readership, I never imagined that I'd have hundreds of people all over the world checking this out. Its really amazing.

We did lose some great authors this year. John M. Ford, Octavia Butler, David Gemmell, Peter Benchley, Mickey Spillane all passed this year.

There were also some tremendous debuts this year. The best of which in my opinion was the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

I didn't get as many books read as I wanted to this year. The final count was 31. Just past the minimum goal of 30 I'd set for myself. I'm shooting for 40 in 2007

Here is a recap of what I read in 2006

The Warrior-Prophet by RS Bakker 9.5
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson 6.5
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 8.0
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 9.0
The Thousandfold Thought by RS Bakker 9.0
Dune by Frank Herbert 8.5
Supreme Power by JM Stryzinzki 9.0
Shadow Twin by Martin, Doziois, & Abraham 7.0
A Shadow in Summer by Danial Abraham
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 9.0
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny 8.5
Dying of the Light by GRR Martin 8.0
The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross 7.5
The Man in the High Castle by PK Dick 9.0
The Forever War by Joe Haleman 9.5
Paladin of Souls by Lois M Bujold 7.0
Neuromancer by William Gibson 8.0
Lamb by Christopher Moore 9.0
River of Gods by Ian MacDonald 8.5
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch 9.5
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link 8.0
Fevre Dream by GRRM 7.5
The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes 7.5
Ultimate Iron Man by OS Card 8.0
One More For the Road by Ray Bradbury 5.0
Tripping to Somewhere by Kristopher Reisz 6.0
Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight 7.5
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan 9.0
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay 8.0
Starship Troopers 9.0
Blindsight by Peter Watts 8.5


My book of the year would have to be The Lies of Locke Lamora, and the Best book I read this year would be The Warrior Prophet by R. Scott Bakker.

I'm looking forward to a lot of new books in 2007. Red Seas under Read Skies by Lynch, Thirteen by Morgan, A Sword from Red Ice by JV Jones, Brasyl by MacDonald, as well as hopefully A Dance with Dragons by GRRM.

In additions I still have a huge backlog of genre classics to get to as well as a lot of newer releases by authors I've been meaning to get to such as John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, and Jo Walton. It seems lie there is never enough time to read everything I'd like.

Thanks to all of my readers, and hopefully I'll have a lot more to bring you in 2007!

The Hugo Awards

I'll start with a brief run down of the winners and then get to commentary.

John W. Campbell Award
John Scalzi

Best Fan Artist
Frank Wu

Best Fan Writer
Dave Langford

Best Fanzine
Plokta

Best Semiprozine
Locus

Best Professional Artist
Donato Giancola

Best Professional Editor
David G. Hartwell

Best Dramatic presentation, Short Form
Dr. Who the Empty Child

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Serenity

Best Related Book
Storyteller : Kate Wilhelm

Best Short Story
Tk' tk' tk' : David D. Levine

Best Novellete
Two Hearts : Peter Beagle

Best Novella
Inside Job : Connie Willis

Best Novel
Spin : Robert Charles Wilson

Special Awards were also given to Betty Balantine and Harlan Ellison and Forrey Ackerman was given the Big Heart Award, which was renamed in his honor.

Now my commentary on the results

I wasn't happy with them.
I did not purchase a membership in time to vote, but had I vote, the only choice of mine to win would have been Serenity.

Now I'm a total GRRM fanboy, I've gotten to meet him and chat with him several times, and I really wanted him to win "the big one". But I'm also a realist, and while I think A Storm of Swords is one of the best novels ever written and was robbed, A Feast for Crows was not the book that was going to do it for him. Spin and Accelerando were both extremely tough competition, and Spin likely was deserving.

I also though Magic for Beginners was brilliant, and figured it was a shoe-in for Novella. I'm wondering if Willis didn't get some votes because she was GoH.

Dr. Who beating BSG was also hard to understand... Actually the who voting process is hard to understand. When leaving the awards we were given a printout of the official results. I wish there was an explanation as to how it worked because looking at the results BSG had more first place votes than Dr. Who, the empty child.... in fact is appears to have more votes for Everglade except for last.

This seems to have occurred several times, AFFC had the 3rd most first place votes and finished 5th. John Picacio had the 3rd most votes and finished 5th. Its all very confusing.


Now this was my first Worldcon and my first Hugo Awards. I really enjoyed the ceremony. It did drag on a few times, but for the most part it was very entertaining. The by play between Connie Willis and Robert Silverberg was a highlight. And then of course there was Harlan.
The man is a total dick. However, I find him to be an amusing dick, so I enjoyed his rant. Swallowing the mic was a hoot. Then of course there was "boobgate". IMO it was wrong. But I think some are making a mountain out of a foothill.

The most amusing thing to come out of the hugos to me personally was the rant by William Lexner at I hope I didn't just give away the ending. Looks like he got all the old guard of fandom riled up. Now William is a friend of mine, in fact he was my roommate at Worldcon, and I sat next to him at the Hugos. The man certainly can come off as bombastic, but in reality, he's one of the nicest guys you could meet. That said I know he is getting a kick out of the angry SMOFs. I mean they call themselves Secret Masters of Fandom... They deserve a bit of chain yanking now and again. Kevin Standlee has been one of the biggest critics. Check it out here.
He was also accused of causing Cheryl Morgan to close Emerald City.

Ahhh Good times....Good times.

Books and Food

I read the following post on Steven Brust's LJ. I found it to be a pretty good metaphor.

"I spent a delightful morning hanging out with Niel Gaiman, and, as usual, we talked about Stuff. If the following makes you go, "Splendid! Brilliant! Insightful!" then Niel gets the credit, because it was his metaphor. On the other hand, if it makes you go, "Lame! Stupid! Strained!" then blame me, because I stretched it to the breaking point.

Books can be broken down into four classes: popcorn, steak, caviar, and celery.

Popcorn is pretty obvious. Anyone here enjoy The Destroyer novels by Sapir and Murphy as much as me? gobble gobble gobble Steak is the stuff you can bite into, chew, swallow, and gain sustenance from. Some of us use spices on our steak, or do interesting things with it by stir-frying it, adding ginger and various vegetables, and so on. In my case, paprika. But at the end of the day, it is steak. Niel writes particularly good steak--range fed, the spicing is different every time, always delectable, and some of it obviously comes from places where cattle are not indigenous, making you go, "Wow. How did they ever think of doing that?" as you go for the next bite.

Gene Wolfe and John M. "Mike" Ford write caviar. It is a lot of work to get to. You have to open the can, you have to make sure the refrigeration is exactly perfect. You have to have the right atmosphere, and you have to approach it with the proper reverence if you're going to get anything out of the experience. But if you do, my god, is it worth it!

Celery is that stuff you have to chew and chew and chew and, by the time you're done, you've gotten even less nutritional value from than the popcorn. I won't name any names.

Some turn up their noses at popcorn. Well, that's okay. Just don't bring 'em to a ball game. Most of us like steak, in one form or another. Some object to caviar because they have just never got into the glories of eating--into food that is worth the work. For them, the payoff just isn't there.

The interesting thing, to me, is that there really are people out there who like the celery because it is so hard to chew, and the fact that there's nothing of substance there doesn't bother them.

Okay, so, probably not as deep as I'm making it sound. But fun to think about."

On Ratings

Its probably about time I gave a brief explanation of my rating systems.
I give ratings on a scale from 0 to 10 including half integers.

0 : would be something I'd have to have an awfully compelling reason to finish. I'm stubborn but not that stubborn. Zero is something I probably wouldn't even want to wipe my ass with for fear of contamination.

1 : is about as bad as it gets, for example: Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind I'd rate a 1

2 : very bad

3 : is a bad book, but it probably has some redeeming qualities, a cool character or a impressive concept that was just poorly executed.

4: below average

5 : an average book. I probably enjoyed parts of it, but its probably nothing I'd ever pick up again or recommend to anyone.

6 : a bit better than average, has several positive qualities.

7 : a good book one I would recommend to people and that I might re read given time.

8 : a very good book something that any serious fan of the genre should put on their to be read list. Must be exceptionally well written, be incredibly enjoyable, or be in some way a ground breaking work.

9 : a great book. One that people should read as soon as possible

10 : As good as it gets. I don't give out 10 to many books. The only 10 that I can think of that I've read would be A Storm of Swords.

These ratings of course are subjective, but I do try and insert some objectivity into them. I realize that not everything is going to be my cup of tea. If something is well written or groundbreaking, but I just don't care for it that much, I will not downgrade it substantially. For example Neuromancer. A groundbreaking seminal sci -fi work, I just didn't care for it that much. Not a style I prefer, but I still recognize its significance so it still gets a very good rating.

Some may notice that to this point I haven't given any bad grades. Well I don't grade on a curve. Many of the books I've read this year have won major literary awards, or they have come heavily recommended. I haven't been reading a lot of run of the mill books lately. When I get caught up with some long over due classics and books I've been waiting for, I may get into some more mediocre works.

What has come before.

I'm not a super fast reader. Plus I have that stupid thing called a job, which cuts into my reading time, I like TV and have a handful of shows I watch every week. So when the year began I wanted to set a realistic goal to hit this year. I figured I could at least read two books a month. Three might be pushing it. So I set a goal of 30 books. With a good summer, I'm ahead of pace.

Here is what I've read so far this year, along with the rating I gave them, and the link to my review if I did a full one.

The Warrior-Prophet by R.Scott Bakker 9.5

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson 6.5

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 8.0

The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 9.0

The Thousandfold Thought by R.Scott Bakker 9.0

Dune by Frank Herbert 8.5

Supreme Power HC Graphic Novel by J.M.S. 9.0

Shadow Twin by Dozios, Martin, & Abraham 7.0

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham 7.5

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 9.0

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny 8.5

Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin 8.0

The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross 7.5

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick 9.0

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 9.5

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold 7.0

Neuromancer by William Gibson 8.0

Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff by Christopher Moore 9.0

River of Gods by Ian MacDonald 8.5

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch 9.5

What is yet to come.

Books I'm looking forward to.

The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross : Book 3 of the Family Trade

The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes : Book 3 of the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

A Sword from Red Ice by J.V. Jones : Book 3 of A Sword of Shadows

Farther down the road

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin : Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan : Book 12 of the Wheel of Time

The Aspect-Emporer by R. Scott Bakker

Awards

Do you ever read dust jackets on books and in the authors bio it lists different awards their work has won? Ever wonder what the hell those awards were? Yeah, me too.

So here is a list of the major literary awards for speculative fiction. Most of the major awards are given in mulitple categories such as Best Novel, Best Novella, and Best Short Story.

Pulitzer : Named for Joseph Pulitzer, this is not a speculative fiction award, but a much broader award given in the realms of journalism, letters, and music. Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventure's of Kavalier and Clay won the award in 2001

Hugo : Named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, is the Science Fiction Achievement Award. They are awarded every year at Worldcon, in a number of categories.

Campbell : Named in honor of John W. Campbell, this award is also given out at Worldcon and is given to the best new writer.

Nebula : Awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It is awarded for several categories similar to the Hugo. The Bradbury award for Screnewriting is also awarded at the Nebula banquet.

World Fantasy Award : Awarded at World Fantasy Con for excellence in fantasy writing and art. The WFA is sometimes called the Lovecraft Award, or the "Howie," since the trophy is a wonderfully gloomy and cadaverous Gahan Wilson bust of H.P. Lovecraft

Stoker : The Horror Writer's Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work, Dracula.

Clarke : Named for Arthur C. Clarke, The Clarke Award is awarded every year to the best science fiction novel which received its first British publication during the previous calendar year.


Philip K. Dick : The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.

Tiptree : The James Tiptree, Jr. Award, an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.

Locus : The Locus Awards are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll, which was established in the early '70s specifically to provide recommendations and suggestions to Hugo Awards voters.


Thanks to

Where I found much of this information.

Audio Books

Formerly know as books on tape, audio books are in my opinion vastly under appreciated. My first use of audio books was back in college. My brother and I drove out to Colorado for spring break, and we listened to Mario Puzo's the Sicilian. I discovered that listening to a book really helps the drive go faster. After college, I had a job selling windows and siding. This involved up to 5 hours driving a day, sometimes even more. I lived across the road from the library, and I made good use of it. I listed to most of Tom Clancy's books. I discovered Roger Zelazny's world of Amber. It made the drive home at 10 pm after having 2 no shows and a no sale in the evening much more bearable.

Now one of the downsides of audio books was the sheer amount of media required. A good sized book can have over 20 hours of audio easily. A Storm of Swords is pushing 50 hours. On a 90 minute tape that's one hell of a lot of tapes. On a 75 minute CD that's 40 of them. Needless to say that become unwieldly. It also leads to abridgments, which in most cases I view as an abomination. But in the last several years with the rise of the I-pod and other hard drive based mp3 players full 1200 page translations of books became much more feasible. Audible dot com is a good seller of digital audio books, the main drawback being is they are in a proprietary format and therefore wont work with all players. Its a massive undertaking to convert them to the more accessible mp3 format.

Anyway, despite the drawbacks, I'm a huge fan. If I'm driving anywhere more than 30 minutes or so I put a book on. I listen when I walk the dog, or go jogging. While audio books will never replace the love I have for sitting down with a hard bound book, They definitely have their place.

Catching up on what I've read this year.

I'm not always a fast reader. A book that doesnt draw me in can take me several weeks to finish, But normally I'm pretty stubborn , so I will get stuck and fall behind. But here is a brief recap of what I have read this year.

TheWarrior-Prophet by R Scott Bakker 9.5 out of 10.
An amazing book One of the best I've ever read. Scott took it up a big notch from TDTCB

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erickson. 6.5/10
I don't get the love. Erickson could be churning out D&D books

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold 8/10
Fun read, Fun Plot, Nice characters, nothing ground breaking but very solid

The Dragon Waiting by John M Ford. 9/10
Great book, Great idea, ending left me a bit empty, but a brilliant alternate history overall

The Thousandfold Thought by R Scott Bakker. 9/10
Loved it. Left me wanting more. Love the desrciptions of the battling schoolmen.

Dune by Frank Herbert. 8.5/10
A classic of the genre. Its 40 years old and it holds up amazingly well. The number of todays authors who were influence by this is remarkable. At times though it reads like a book on ecology, and it loses me slightly there.

Supreme Power HC. J. Michael Strazynski 9/10
This is a hard cover compliation of the first 12 issues of the comic book in Marvel's Max line. JMS can write a really good comic. He takes the alternate world Squadron supreme and reimagines it in a refreshing way. The characters are esentially modeled after DC's JLA , Hyperion= Superman, Doc. Spectum=Green Lantern, Nighthawk=Batman . Most of the Heros are not all that heroic. If you are a fan of the tights and capes crowd this is a must read.

Shadow Twin by Gardner Dozios, George RR Martin, and Danial Abraham. 7/10
This is really only a Novella about 100 pages in lenght. But its a book in its own right so I'm counting it as a full book. :pIt was interesting. I've always been more of a fantasy fan than of Sci Fi. The story takes place on another planet colonied by humans, mostly Latin americans. and The Main character, Ramon discovers aliens while out prospecting. From there is where the story becomes interesting. There is one outstanding plot twist which makes the whole story. I guess as someone who doesnt rerad much short work nor sci fi, it wasnt really my element, I'd rate it as solid but not spectacular.